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CHARL  ORMOND  WILLIAMS 
Field  Secretary  NationaTEducation 
Association 


DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 
PUBLICITY  AND  RESEARCH 
ANTI -SALOON  LEAGUE  OF  AMERICA 


THE  AMERICAN  ISSUE  PRESS  . WESTERVILLE  OHIO.  U.S.A. 


VALUE  OF 

TEMPERANCE  EDUCATION 
IN  THE  SCHOOLS  TODAY 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES* 

By  Charl  Ormond  Williams 

Field  Secretary,  National  Education 
Association 

ECAUSE  I was  unwilling  to  rely 
upon  my  own  opinions  regarding 
the  value  of  temperance  instruc- 
tion, I went  to  the  authorities  of 
the  land;  first,  to  the  physicians,  sci- 
entists and  health-workers,  for  facts  as 
to  the  effects  of  alcohol;  then  to  the 
trainers  of  youth  to  learn  from  those  who 
have  been  teaching  the  subject  for  ten, 
twenty  or  thirty  years  what  is  its  value 
and  how  they  believe  it  should  be  con- 
tinued now  that  the  Prohibition  Amend- 
ment has  been  in  effect  eight  years. 

AS  ATHLETES  OF  1928  SEE  IT 
Asked  regarding  training  rules  for  ath- 
letes, Major  John  L.  Griffith,  Commis- 
sioner of  Athletics  in  the  “Big  Ten”  In- 
tercollegiate Conference,  wrote  me: 

“Something  like  a half  million  boys  are 
playing  football  in  the  schools  and  colleges 
this  fall,  and  perhaps  three  million  more 


•From  an  address  by  Miss  Williams  to  the 
National  Convention  of  the  Woman’s  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  Boston,  Mass.,  Nov. 
16,  1928. 


[2] 


will  play  basketball  this  winter.  I do  not 
know  of  a single  coach  or  trainer  in  an  edu- 
cational institution  who  believes  that  alco- 
hol is  beneficial  to  an  athlete.  In  fact,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  all  of  our  school  and  college 
coaches  insist  that  their  boys  and  young 
men  shall  abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of 
alcohol  in  any  form. 

“From  my  personal  experience  and  ob- 
servation, our  athletes  know  full  well  that 
they  cannot  expect  to  succeed  in  athletics 
if  they  break  training  during  the  training 
season.  By  breaking  training  they  under- 
stand that  this  means  smoking,  drinking  al- 
coholic beverages,  eating  between  meals,  or 
eating  the  foods  that  do  not  agree  with 
them. 

“I  am  convinced  that  if  our  young  men 
learn  that  they  must  be  temperate  in  their 
habits  if  they  are  to  succeed  in  athletics, 
the  value  of  temperate  living  will  be  im- 
pressed upon  them  after  their  active  athletic 
days  are  ended.” 

William  J.  Bingham,  Director  of  Ath- 
letics at  Harvard,  answered  my  inquiry  as 
follows: 

“Naturally  alcohol  is  not  permitted  dur- 
ing training  season  for  any  of  our  teams. 
An  athletic  coach  has  a great  deal  of  re- 
sponsibility in  molding  the  characters  of 
young  men,  because  I do  not  know  of  any 
association  that  is  closer  than  that  be- 
tween a coach  and  a boy.” 

At  the  University  of  Washington,  A1 
Ulbrickson,  head  coach  of  the  university 
crews,  says: 

“To  stand  the  strain  of  a gruelling  three 
or  four  mile  race,  every  man  must  be  in 
perfect  physical  condition.  Each  must  pull 
his  own  oar.  The  use  of  alcohol  is  detri- 
mental to  perfept  coordination  of  mind  and 
[3] 


muscle,  and  it  never  will  be  tolerated  on 
my  squad.” 

Alcohol  in  any  form  is  absolutely  pro- 
hibited to  the  players  at  the  University  of 
Notre  Dame,  either  in  or  out  of  football 
season.  This  is  done,  says  Knute  Rockne, 
the  school’s  director  of  athletics, 

“by  appealing  to  the  player’s  loyalty,  his 
interest  in  the  success  of  the  team,  and  his 
honor  in  doing  anything  that  might  in  any 
way  interfere  with  his  eflQciency  as  a play- 
er.” 

Coach  Rockne  says  further: 

“I  believe  that  we  in  the  colleges  have  a 
responsibility  as  regards  character  and 
there  can  be  no  really  strong  character 
without  developing  will-power  to  be  tem- 
perate at  all  times.” 

Coach  Fielding  H.  Yost,  Director  of 
Athletics  at  the  University  of  Michigan, 
himself  a lifelong  total  abstainer,  says: 

“During  the  past  thirty  years  I have  been 
connected,  as  player  and  coach,  with  col- 
lege athletics.  I know  the  evil  effects  of  al- 
cohol on  the  moral  and  physical  life  of  one 
who  uses  it.  I have  never  observed  any 
good  from  the  use  of  it.  I would  not  waste 
time  trying  to  train  or  develop  one  who 
uses  it.  A boy  or  young  man  who  drinks 
does  not  give  himself  a fair  chance.” 

Testifying  in  April,  1926,  before  the 
Senate  Committee  at  the  hearings  on  the 
proposed  modification  of  the  Volstead 
Act,  Amos  Alonzo  Stagg,  football  coach  at 
the  University  of  Chicago  for  the  past 
thirty-five  years,  said: 

“As  a coach  I do  not  oelieve,  and  none  of 
the  coaches  that  train  men  believe  in  the 
use  of  alcoholic  beverages.  I was  a member 
of  the  coaching  staff  of  the  Oljonpic  teams 
[4] 


two  years  ago,  and  that  was  one  of  the  for- 
bidden things  when  we  went  over  to  Paris; 
the  men  were  not  to  drink  anything  but 
water,  and  we  took  our  water  with  us.  . . . 
The  coaches  and  trainers  generally  are  dead 
against  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors,  even 
beer,  in  training.  . . . Now,  the  American 
athletes  stood  upon  the  top.  There  were 
none  better.  The  only  ones  that  approxi- 
mated us  were  the  Finnish  athletes,  and 
they  do  not  use  liquor.” 

Incidentally,  Coach  Stagg  is  one  of 
those  who  believe  that  there  is  much  less 
drinking  among  college  students,  and 
young  people  in  general — in  the  Middle 
West,  at  least — than  there  was  before 
prohibition. 

HOW  IT  MAY  BE  DONE 

Practically  any  subject  offers  oppor- 
tunities for  temperance  education,  it 
would  seem  from  the  replies  I have  had 
to  my  questionnaire.  For  instance,  es- 
say contests  may  be  entered  by  English 
classes.  Art  students  may  work  out  tem- 
perance posters;  history  classes  may  find 
a warning  against  intemperance  from 
examples  of  the  past;  mathematics 
classes  may  study  statistics  of  accidents 
and  make  graphs  showing  the  decreased 
death  rate  since  prohibition;  sociology 
and  economics  students  are  offered  a 
wide  range  of  material  in  poverty,  illiter- 
acy, crime  and  disease  as  the  result  of  in- 
temperance; community  civics  classes 
may  be  taught  that  respect  for  law  means 
respect  for  the  Eighteenth  Amendment; 
classes  in  either  home  economics,  phys- 
ical education  or  hygiene  offer  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  discussion  of  those  drinks 
[5] 


v/hich  are  enemies  of  good  health.  This 
study  takes  up  the  stimulants,  such  as 
tea,  coffee  and  Coca-Cola,  which  should 
not  be  used  by  children  because  of  their 
caffeine  content,  and  points  out  that,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  modern 
scientists,  alcohol  is  not  even  a stimu- 
lant, but  a narcotic  which  deadens  the 
senses  and  lowers  both  physical  and 
mental  efficiency. 

PROHIBITION  A BEGINNING 

Prohibition  is  only  the  beginning  in 
the  direction  of  abolition  of  the  liquor 
traffic  and  the  ultimate  freedom  of 
human  beings  from  the  ills  traceable  to 
the  use  of  alcohol.  A people  cannot  be 
reformed  through  legislation;  rather,  it 
is  education  that  offers  the  most  effec- 
tive remedy  for  popular  evils. 

Irving  Fisher,  Yale  economist,  who  had 
recommended  prohibition  as  a tempo- 
rary, war-time  measure,  believes  that 
“constitutional  prohibition  came  on  the 
country  prematurely.”  As  to  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  he  asserts  that  we 
should  “do  now  the  educating  after  pro- 
hibition which,  by  rights,  should  have 
been  done  before  prohibition.” 

P.  P.  Claxton,  Superintendent  of 
Schools  at  Tulsa,  Okla.,  and  former 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion, believes  that  much  of  the  present 
reaction  against  prohibition  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  temperance  education  was  not 
always  scientific,  but  too  often  was  of  an 
emotional  and  propaganda  type.  In  his 
opinion,  men  and  women,  who  voted  for 
prohibition  largely  as  a result  of  this 
[6] 


teaching,  lacked  the  scientific  basis  that 
might  have  enabled  them  to  stand 
against  the  present  propaganda  and 
emotional  reaction  which,  he  says,  is 
largely  commercial  in  its  sources.  Soon 
after  adoption  of  the  Eighteenth  Amend- 
ment Dr.  Claxton  said: 

“The  fight  for  temperance,  sobriety,  clean 
and  healthy  living  is  not  yet  fully  won.  In 
fact,  it  never  wUl  be  finally  won.  It  can 
only  be  won  for  a single  generation  at  a 
time,  or  even  for  a few  years  at  a time.  It 
is,  therefore,  necessary  that  the  teaching  of 
health  and  of  things  pertaining  thereto 
should  be  continued  in  our  schools  and  em- 
phasized more  than  it  has  been  in  the 
past.” 

WHENCE  COMES  DISRESPECT 
FOR  LAW 

The  tendency  among  certain  classes  to 
disobey  the  law  has  deprived  this  coun- 
try of  full  benefits  from  prohibition. 
The  results  have  been  especially  unde- 
sirable among  young  people,  for  while 
majority  opinion  seems  to  hold  that  the 
number  of  youthful  drinkers  has  dimin- 
ished, disrespect  for  law  is  on  the  in- 
crease. But  what  other  effect  could  be 
expected  from  such  influences  as  “wet” 
editorials  appearing  in  newspapers  con- 
trolled by  the  liquor  forces;  from  the 
moving  picture  scenes  depicting  drink- 
ing; from  the  example  of  the  alumnus 
who  carries  liquor  back  to  his  college 
functions;  or  from  the  mothers  and 
fathers  who  patronize  the  bootlegger? 
EDUCATION  MORE  NECESSARY  NOW 

Because  of  the  disrespect  for  law  in 
homes  where  drinking  is  common  today, 
[7] 


many  people  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  temperance  education  is  more 
necessary  now  than  formerly.  Walter  E. 
Ranger,  Commissioner  of  Education  in 
Rhode  Island,  writes  me: 

“This  type  of  instruction  is  even  more 
necessary  under  conditions  in  which  alco- 
holic beverages  are  manufactured  and  con- 
sumed in  the  home  than  when  practically 
their  use  was  relegated  to  the  saloon.” 

I want  also  to  quote  R.  L.  Jones,  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  at  Memphis,  Tenn., 
who  says: 

“There  will  always  be  liquor  sellers  as 
long  as  there  are  liquor  buyers.  The  only 
way  to  effect  a permanent  cure  is  to  destroy 
the  desire  to  buy,  and  this  can  be  done  only 
by  education.” 

SOBER  NATION  MORE  NECESSARY 
NOW 

The  speeding  up  of  life  due  to  the  air- 
piane,  mechanized  age  in  which  we  live 
makes  temperance  more  necessary  than 
formerly.  In  such  an  era,  when  clear 
heads  and  steady  hands  are  required  to 
hold  one’s  own,  do  not  the  young  people 
need  more  than  ever  to  be  warned  of  the 
evils  of  alcohol?  I believe  they  do.  The 
automobile  has  added  to  the  dangers  of 
intemperance,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  airplane  will  do  likewise.  Su- 
perintendent Percival  S.  Barnes  of  East 
Hartford,  Conn.,  advocates  special  stress 
on  this  point  in  all  temperance  educa- 
tion. He  says: 

“I  should  certainly  emphasize  the  need 
for  the  development  of  an  absolutely  sober 
nation  in  a time  when  nearly  all  of  our  peo- 
ple over  sixteen  are  driving  automobiles.  If 
[8^ 


there  were  no  other  arguments  for  prohibi- 
tion I should  rest  the  case  upon  what  seems 
to  me  even  sufficient  foundation,  namely,  to 
insure  greater  safety  on  the  highways  for 
the  millions  of  people  who  are  using  them 
in  high-powered  cars.” 

Increased  leisure  is  adding  to  the  prob- 
lems of  sane  living.  We  are  approaching 
a shorter  week  and  a shorter  day  for 
working  people  everywhere.  The  five- 
day  week  plan  is  offering  leisure  time 
which  involves  an  enormous  social  prob- 
lem. People  must  be  educated  for  that 
leisure. 

THE  IDLE  ARE  THE  DRINKERS 

Even  now  it  is  the  idle  who  are  our 
most  heavy  drinkers.  F.  D.  Boynton, 
Superintendent  of  Schools  at  Ithaca, 
New  York,  and  President  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Superintendence  of  the  National 
Education  Association,  says: 

“Common  intoxication  is  not  in  style  as 
it  used  to  be.  When  the  idle  well-to-do  get 
interesting  jobs,  drinking  will  be  still  less 
in  style.  There  are  approximately  14,000,000 
children  now  in  our  schools  who  would  not 
know  what  ailed  a man  who  was  under  the 
influence  of  drink  should  they  happen  to 
see  one.” 


IN  THE  PAST 

Throughout  the  struggle  for  reform  in 
the  drinking  habits  of  the  country,  the 
National  Education  Asociation  has  been 
active  in  behalf  of  both  temperance  and 
law  enforcement.  Beginning  in  1863, 
when  the  organization  was  only  six  years 
old,  the  association  has  passed  resolu- 
tions time  after  time  urging  law  enforce- 
[9] 


ment.  At  the  meeting  in  1875  Frances  E. 
Willard  was  a speaker  on  “The  Relation 
of  the  Teacher  to  the  Reforms  of  the 
Day.”  Temperance  education  in  the 
schools  was  endorsed  in  1880  and  again 
four  years  later.  In  1885  the  association 
“approved  the  effort  to  create  a strong 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  temperance” 
and  endorsed  “all  proper  individual  and 
legislative  action  looking  toward  the 
healthfulness,  happiness  and  purity  of 
the  people.”  A study  of  the  teaching  of 
physiology,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
effects  of  alcohol,  was  recommended  in 
1894  by  the  National  Education  Associa- 
tion, and  six  years  later  by  its  Depart- 
ment of  Superintendence.  State  prohi- 
bition was  reindorsed  in  1892.  In  1918 
ratification  of  the  Eighteenth  Amend- 
ment was  recommended  by  the  Associa- 
tion, and  in  1920  it  went  on  record  as 
favoring  “impartial  and  fearless  enforce- 
ment of  the  Volstead  Act.” 

EDUCATORS  AND  THE  FUTURE 

Since  that  time  resolutions  in  support 
of  law  enforcement  have  been  adopted 
almost  every  year  by  both  the  National 
Education  Association  and  the  Depart- 
ment of  Superintendence.  The  resolu- 
tion adopted  at  Dallas,  Texas,  in  March, 
1927,  by  the  latter  department,  leaves  no 
room  for  doubt  that  the  majority  of 
school  authorities  of  this  country  are 
whole-hearted  believers  in  temperance, 
law  enforcement  and  continued  educa- 
tion as  to  the  injurious  effects  of  alcohol 
as  a beverage.  I quote  this  resolution  in 
full: 


[10] 


“Finally  we  recommend  and  urge  that  a 
worthwhile  health  program  be  carried  on 
throughout  the  country,  emphasizing  in 
particular  personal  hygiene  and  the  evil  ef- 
fects of  narcotics  and  alcoholic  beverages; 
that  character  building  be  recognized  as  a 
fundamental  objective  in  all  parts  of  the 
school  program  to  the  end  that  the  youth  of 
the  land  shall  be  strengthened  in  all  moral 
and  spiritual  values;  that  respect  for  law 
and  order  and  a sense  of  personal  civic  re- 
sponsibility be  encouraged  in  all  schools; 
and  that  a happy  and  helpful  attitude  of 
tolerance  be  inculcated  to  the  end  that 
American  youth  shall  be  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  world-wide  brotherhood,  peace  and 
progress.” 

I shall  quote  also  the  resolution  on  this 
subject  adopted  at  Seattle  in  July,  1927, 
by  the  National  Education  Association: 

“We  recommend  that  the  program  of 
physical  and  health  education  already  pro- 
vided in  many  centers  be  extended  to  all 
of  the  schools  of  the  nation.  In  the  de- 
velopment of  this  program  we  urge  that  re- 
emphasis  be  given  to  the  teaching  of  the  evil 
effects  of  narcotic  drugs  and  of  alcoholic 
beverages.” 

The  teachers  of  the  country  are  ac- 
cepting their  responsibility  to  prepare 
the  children  of  today  so  that  they  may 
v/ith  intelligence  and  understanding  op- 
pose the  liquor  traffic  when  the  present 
temperance  workers  shall  pass  on  this 
task  to  them.  Because  the  new  genera- 
tion will  not  know  from  personal  ex- 
perience the  evils  which  caused  their 
parents  to  outlaw  the  liquor  traflBc,  the 
schools  must  not  only  teach  children  the 
effects  of  alcohol,  but  must  show  how 
these  effects  made  prohibition  necessary. 

[11] 


The  teachers  follow  the  direction  of  the 
secretary  of  our  association,  J.  W.  Crab- 
tree, who  says: 

“The  teachers  of  the  nation  of  a few  dec- 
ades ago  are  entitled  to  a large  share  of  the 
credit  for  the  passage  of  the  Eighteenth 
Amendment.  They  taught  the  injurious 
effects  of  narcotics  and  stimulants  and  pre- 
pared a generation  to  stand  against  the  ex- 
istence of  the  saloon.  This  teaching  must 
be  continued.  If  the  evil  effects  of  the  sa- 
loon are  not  taught  and  the  other  side  con- 
tinues to  be  held  up  in  the  press,  we  may 
easily  develop  in  a few  years  a generation 
which  will  undo  that  which  required  fifty 
years  and  more  to  achieve.” 

As  Superintendent  M.  E.  Moore,  of 
Beaumont,  Texas,  expresses  it,  the 
schools  have  “raised  a generation  to  vote 
the  law  (prohibition) ; we  must  now  raise 
a generation  to  enforce  it.” 

The  fact  is  that  it  takes  time  to  bring 
about  reasonable  enforcement  of  any 
new  law.  At  Washington’s  death  there 
was  great  doubt  that  the  American  Con- 
stitution would  ever  become  a working 
reality,  despite  the  fact  that  it  was  then 
twelve  years  old.  Today  we  hear  on 
every  hand  praises  of  the  foresight  of 
those  who  framed  this  document.  The 
prohibition  law  has  been  made  a part 
of  that  Constitution,  and  I believe 
through  education  that  amendment  will 
eventually  share  in  the  reverence  which 
attaches  to  the  original  document. 


(PRINTED  IN  THE  tj.  S.  A.) 


